English Gothic was the first book to trace the rise and fall of the British horror film, from its beginnings in the 1890s right through to the end of the 20th century, encompassing the lost films of the silent era, the Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi chillers of the 1930s, the lurid classics from Hammer’s […]
Between 1968 and 1976 the undisputed highlight of Top of the Pops was its nubile dance troupe Pan’s People. In the era before music videos this legendary group and their choreographer Flick Colby filled in for absent bands. In the process they became better remembered than many of the records they danced to. Now, to celebrate the […]
Join us at London’s Cinema Museum on Sunday 12 May for the launch of Peter Cushing: The Complete Memoirs. The centenary celebration will be lead by film historian Jonathan Rigby, who wrote the introduction to the new book. Jonathan will also be interviewing Bernard Broughton, who was Cushing’s friend and assistant for 20 years. Tickets […]
Signum’s sister company Hysterion Records is launched today. The first release is the vinyl-only 7″ EP Sounds from the Inferno, credited to fictional group John Smith and the Common Men. The a side is ‘Three Guitars Mood 2’, the song played in the first episode of Doctor Who almost 50 years ago. The b side comprises ‘The Eyelash’ […]
Everyone at Signum Books was deeply saddened that our friend and colleague Gerry Anderson passed away yesterday. Gerry wrote the foreword to Shane Rimmer’s autobiography in 2010 and was an integral part of the Century 21 series of books. He was a remarkable man, and we will miss him terribly. Our love and our thoughts […]
Peter Cushing was born in May 1913, and we are planning to commemorate the great actor’s centenary with a lavish new book. Since autumn 2012 we have been working with the Cushing estate to compile both his autobiographies together with numerous rare stills and other unseen items from his private collection. Peter Cushing: The Complete Memoirs […]
Thanks to everyone who came to London’s Cinema Museum for the launch of Eunice Gayson’s autobiography, The First Lady of Bond, on 13 October and the launch of Liz Fraser’s autobiography Liz Fraser… And Other Characters on 18 October. The museum was the perfect venue for our evenings of film clips, lively conversation and book signings. We hope […]
Studies in Terror: Landmarks of Horror Cinema is the latest book by Jonathan Rigby, the author of the classic genre histories English Gothic and American Gothic. The new book was launched at two recent events. At Londons Cinema Museum on Friday 7 October Jonathan joined Kim Newman (who was promoting the latest edition of his book Nightmare Movies) for the […]
We’re celebrating the publication of Studies in Terror: Landmarks of Horror Cinema with two launch events in London this October. On Friday 7 October Jonathan will be joined by author and critic Kim Newman at the Cinema Museum in Kennington for a discussion entitled ‘From Hammer to Chainsaw: Horror of the Sixties and Seventies’. This will […]
We’ve been hibernating for the winter, working on three new hardback titles which were announced at the London Book Fair today. Film Review 2010-2011 is the 66th edition of the definitive film guide established by F Maurice Speed in 1944. Now edited by Michael Darvell and Mansel Stimpson, Film Review is still the only guide […]